Paul Westphal begins his second year as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, becoming the 23rd head coach in Kings’ franchise history. Westphal brings 22 years of coaching experience at both the professional and collegiate levels to the Kings bench. He joined the Kings after spending the 2008-09 season as the executive vice president of basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks after serving as an assistant coach for the Mavericks (2007-08).
Westphal's NBA coaching experience began nearly five years after his career as a player in the league ended. He coached one season at Phoenix’s Southwestern Baptist Bible College and two seasons at Grand Canyon College, guiding them to the 1988 NAIA National Championship. In 1988, Westphal joined the Suns’ bench as an assistant coach and four years later, in 1992, the
Westphal remained in Phoenix as the assistant coach to Terry Kearney at Chaparral High School to see his son, Michael, to graduation. He returned to the NBA coaching ranks in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 campaign, leading the Sonics to a 25-25 record. The following season, Seattle posted a 45-37 record and made the playoffs, losing 3-2 to the Utah Jazz in a first round series.
Overall, Westphal’s NBA head coaching record stands at 292-216, and his .574 winning percentage ranks among the league’s best.
Prior to joining the Mavericks, Westphal served as the head men’s basketball coach at Pepperdine University from 2001 to 2006. During his five seasons at Pepperdine, Westphal guided the Waves to an overall 76-72 mark (.514), including a 38-32 (.543) record in West Coast Conference (WCC) play. During the 2001-02 season, the Waves enjoyed a 22-9 record, a share of the WCC title and an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Westphal began his NBA career when he was a 1972 first-round (10th overall pick) draft choice of the Boston Celtics after graduating from USC. His NBA career spanned 12 seasons, which included stints with Boston, Phoenix,
During the 1982-83 season, while playing for the New York Knicks, Westphal was named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year after recovering from two surgeries for a broken foot that shortened his two previous seasons.
A five-time All-Star (four with Phoenix and once with Seattle), Westphal’s career ended with Phoenix in 1983 after he scored 12,809 points(15.6 ppg), grabbed 1,580 rebounds (1.9 rpg), delivered 3,591 assists (4.4 apg) and came up with 1,022 steals (1.2 spg) in 823 career games. He also was named to the All-NBA First Team three times (1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80) and All-NBA Second Team once (1977-78). Westphal scored 9,564 points as a member of the Suns and his No. 44 jersey was retired by the franchise on April 15, 1989.
Born in Torrance,
Westphal and his wife of 38 years, Cindy, have two grown children. Victoria (Mrs. Branden Higa) and Michael (who recently married the former Leanne Duckgeischel). They have one grandchild, Kai Higa.